


Gallery

by LittleSweetCheeks



Series: Jacque Duval [3]
Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: Friendship, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29807085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: Nadine is invited to see Aleksi's latest art exhibit.
Relationships: Elizabeth McCord/Henry McCord/Nadine Tolliver
Series: Jacque Duval [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186274
Comments: 8
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

Slipping out of the SUV, Nadine gave Henry’s hand a quick squeeze before stepping out of the way. Tipping her head back, she stared up at the gallery’s entrance while he helped Elizabeth out behind her.

This was a non-work trip, they were in New York for the sole reason that Aleksi had a new exhibit opening and they’d insisted they come and not only attend the formal event, but have this private tour beforehand. Nadine had, as always, tried to beg off from attending, claiming she was simply too busy to get time away, but this time they’d called in reinforcements to get her to take the time off.

“Ready?” Elizabeth leaned close, her hand brushing gently down Nadine’s back from shoulder blade to waist, bringing her thoughts back to earth. They couldn’t hold hands or properly touch yet, they had another twenty feet or so of being just colleagues and friends before the doors would shut behind them and they could be lovers again. The agents with them would make sure they had privacy once inside.

“I suppose so. Shall we?” Now that they were here, she was excited to see all Aleksi had created.

Two of the agents pulled the gallery doors open and let them pass before closing and guarding them.

“Poupée!” Aleksi was at their sides as if they’d been standing there waiting, taking her hand and pulling her close. “I promise that in mixed company tonight, I will not use it.” She laughed, letting them kiss her cheek before greeting the other two. “And Henry and Elizabeth, so good to see you again.” They stared fondly down at Nadine who they still held close. “Has she been on her best behavior lately?” They teased.

“Mostly.” Elizabeth leaned into Henry’s arm with a grin. “Though we still have to discuss how it took you getting Jacque to call me at work before I even found out your work would be on display.” The call had, unintentionally, been a gift in itself. Nadine would never forget the stunned look on Blake’s face as he’d stepped into Elizabeth’s office and shared that _Jacque Duval_ was on the line for her, nor the awestruck look he’d carried for days after Elizabeth had later admitted that it’d been a bit of a personal call, not work. His reaction had rivalled Alison’s.

“We can come up with an appropriate punishment over our meal.” Aleksi waited for confirmation that they would be dining together later before leading them through the gallery rooms, their arm still around Nadine. “I have some of the artwork we discussed, but I also added in a few others. I always try to tell a story when my work goes on a fancy run like this. I hope you are pleased with the one I’ve told.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it.” Turning the next corner, Nadine drew a breath as she came to a stop in the doorway.

The four of them were all silent for a moment, simply taking in their first look at the room. Some of the works were simple charcoal, others had splashes of accents, still others nearly vibrated with color. The far wall had a series of four pieces, nearly life-size. Nadine felt herself exhale and just stare. There was motion in those four pieces. They _were_ movement.

The first drawing was simple lines, charcoal and nothing more. The dancer was standing, one leg extended with her toe pointed to the ground, both arms in first position. Even without the definition of a face, she could feel the concentration in the way her body was held so perfectly, waiting to move.

The second piece was nearly identical except one arm had moved to second and her face had turned toward her pointed toe. Her leotard and tights now held the faintest hints of color, giving it just a bit of life.

The third piece had the dancer leaned forward, arm seemingly in motion as her fingers began to reach for her outstretched toes. In this one, her clothing was darker and they could see her now-dark hair was pulled into a messy bun, tendrils wisping and curling free.

In the final piece, the dancer was fully extended, folded nearly in half and the entire scene was vibrantly colored in and almost alive.

Nadine gripped Aleksi’s arm. “Oh!” She’d never seen these before. “They’re… they’re beautiful!” She couldn’t peel her eyes away, looking from frame to frame again and again until the images bled into one that seemed to be actively moving on the wall. She didn’t even notice she’d started holding her breath until Aleksi laughed gently.

“Poupée, you must breathe.”

When she looked up at them, their eyes weren’t on her, but over her head. She quickly looked the other way to find Elizabeth reaching for her. “Liz.”

Elizabeth was smiling, a soft laugh coming out. “I see it. I see you dancing up there for the world to see forever.” She pressed a kiss to Nadine’s lips. “How about we see the others?”

She felt almost giddy now with anticipation. “Yes.”

Hooking their arms together, they left Henry and Aleksi standing in the doorway watching as they began circling the room. Aleksi had been right, Nadine realized, there was a story here. The first wall was of their days in the flat and around the city. Sometimes a drawing was of nothing more than a hand holding a glass or feet and legs dangling out a window. Some made her feel elated, others she could feel her own exhaustion or despair.

There was one, a cracked window pane and the faintest hint of the reflection of a face and it reminded her of a split second of anger. In her mind, she could hear a door slamming so hard the walls had seemed to shake and then felt the memory of the hot tears that had come as the contents of a bag had been hurled, piece by piece, across the flat.

“What cracked it?” Elizabeth whispered. “It feels…” She didn’t finish.

“Angry.” Nadine supplied. “Perhaps embarrassed, sad.” She swallowed. “A shoe.”

In her periphery she could see Elizabeth studying her silently.

“A toe shoe. I, uh… I didn’t get a placement I felt I deserved and I got angry. I’d stormed all the way home so I could let it out in the place I knew was safe.”

After a minute, Elizabeth kissed her cheek and they moved on.

Further down, she tugged on Elizabeth’s arm and pointed at one that made her smile. It was a portrait sketch, just head and shoulders, but it was very clearly cold because shoulders that were bare in almost every other piece were hidden under the hint of a heavy coat and her neck and face clear over her nose was obscured by what looked like a thick fuchsia scarf. Under the beret was a cascade of hair and then just her eyes were visible.

“Look at you.” Elizabeth whispered. “Even bundled up, I can still see your spirit.”

“I see how cold I was.” She smiled. “I have always hated the cold.”

“And yet you love winter.”

“Winter is beautiful.” Pulling finally away, she tugged Elizabeth to the back wall. Under the larger pieces that had stolen her breath, were a series of dance sketches. Most were vague, drawn during warm-ups or as she had practiced around the flat though a select few were from when Aleksi had trailed after her to the theater. At the last drawing, one where she was being held in the air by a male dancer, Nadine stopped again. “That one is different to the rest.” When Elizabeth looked at her for some clue, she kept her face impassive, wondering if she would work it out.

As their hands dropped apart, Nadine watched Elizabeth back up, carefully studying other pictures before looking at that one again. To the casual observer it looked no different. The dancer was in a plain leotard and tights, not doing anything out of the norm. She watched as Elizabeth’s eyes ran over every detail; the hair that was pulled up just like most of the others, the coloring was the same, even the way the male dancer was lifting her wasn’t much different, though in her own mind, she knew he was holding her differently.

She stayed quiet as Elizabeth did her best to focus on two at once, comparing everything from the point of her toes to the line of her arms. Tipping her head to work out the puzzle. The dancer was arched back, arms over her head, a near perfect curved line. Suddenly, she looked to Nadine as if to ask for confirmation of what she thought she was seeing.

Nadine smiled. “I was pregnant with Roman.” She reached for her hand and pulled her close again, pointing out the very slight hint that her abdomen was no longer toned and slim in it. “I would guess that had to be right before I stopped dancing. I was probably five, almost six months along.”

“I never would’ve noticed.”

She shrugged. “The audience never did. That man,” she couldn’t help chuckling, “liked to tease me that I was ninety pounds of dancer and somehow fifty pounds of baby without looking an ounce bigger. I did feel it in how I danced and they surely felt it lifting me.”

“And you’re really okay with Aleksi displaying something so private to the world?”

“That one will be our secret. I don’t suspect anyone else in the world would ever know.” She turned to the last wall. “These, though… No secret here.” The final wall was the series of maternity sketches Aleksi had so carefully created so long ago. “Aleksi is one of my favorite artists, not just because they are my friend, but I don’t think I ever appreciated how well they captured that part of my life. This makes it all look… happy.” Sometimes all she could remember was being so scared there at the end.

“I think you were happy.”

“Yes. I think I was.” She couldn’t help noticing the way Henry and Aleksi were deep in conversation in the doorway now. “I am very happy.”

“So if this is your story around the room, what’s in the middle?”

Nadine hadn’t even given any attention to the small display cases breaking up the open room. “I don’t know.” She followed Elizabeth to the first one, her mouth dropping open as she then rushed to the second and then third before whirling to face the door. “Aleksi?”

They were wearing a grin. “Jacque offered up the rest of the story from his collection.”

Taking them all in, Nadine soaked up Jacque’s clothing sketches. “This is…” She took a step back, startled when she bumped into them, not having realized Aleksi had moved to her side. “I truly don’t know what to say.”

“He and I talked and we decided that for once we wanted to honor someone very important to our careers. To us, this is as much our life story as it is yours. Look.” They tugged her back toward the doorway and turned her around. “From that little sprite through all of this life to this one.” They pointed to a case holding another design. “Wrapped in fur, strutting across the page, you look like a queen.”

“He could’ve left out the gray.” She observed with a smile.

“No, he couldn’t. This is you, Poupée. This is what we all see. From this little girl to this gorgeous woman.”

Overwhelmed tears filled her eyes. When Elizabeth pulled her into her arms, she took a minute to simply tuck her face into the curve of her neck.

A kiss was placed in her hair before Elizabeth whispered in her ear. “Do you need a minute?”

She shook her head. In all her life, she never would have expected Aleksi to do something so grand. And for her! “I’m okay.” She pulled away just enough to see her face. “I just don’t know what to say.” With a soft laugh, she worked to wipe tears away with one hand.

Henry’s hand tugged her around and then he was pulling her into a hug and a kiss. “Will you be okay tonight?”

“I will be. I’m- I’m glad we came today though. I couldn’t imagine seeing this for the first time with a room full of strangers.”

“Not just strangers.”

“What?” She looked up at him.

“The staff will be here plus the kids.”

“Oh.”

He smiled, kissing her again before looking over her head. “How about we head back to the hotel, hm? You look like you could use a bit of a break away from everything.”

She was feeling a bit overwhelmed, seeing her entire life on display. “I think I’d like that.”


	2. Chapter 2

Tucked into their suite, Nadine pulled out her phone and dialed a familiar number.

“Poupée! Tell me all about it.” Jacque answered.

She grinned at his greeting. “I…” She tried to find the words she wanted, but couldn’t find any. “Why?”

“Why what, my Sweetheart?”

She leaned against the frame of one of the large windows. “I thought the pictures of me would just be a small series among the rest of their works. Why… Why would Aleksi waste precious gallery space on…”

“… You?” He finally finished. The line was quiet and then she heard him sigh. “Nadine.” It was possibly the first time ever he’d called her by her given name. “I can’t believe sometimes how you can still think so poorly of yourself.”

“I’m sorry.”

There was a small sound in response to her soft apology. “Do you remember those last days before we sent you away?” She knew he always viewed their assistance in getting her home with a bit of remorse. If they’d been a few years older, a few years more successful, she might have ended up staying in Paris to raise Roman with their help.

She had to think back. Those last weeks had been a blur to her, barely scraping by as she tried desperately not to cost them any more money after she’d already lost her income. “Tell me?” She finally asked.

“You were wearing Aleksi’s clothes because you refused to let us spend any of our money on you and you were just all baby and nothing else.” It had seemed to all of them, that the moment she had stopped dancing, her body decided it was time to act pregnant and almost overnight she looked and felt huge. “There was an afternoon, you were napping and they were making one of those sketches and I can still remember the conversation we had. We wanted to help you, to lift you up, but we had nothing to offer but our love and our art. Aleksi swore to me that whatever they could sell, even if it was just one drawing, would be used to help you.” He paused a minute as she processed that. “That drive to help you is what made them create so much that they finally got noticed.”

“Aleksi never said anything to me.”

“They wouldn’t, Poupée, now would they?”

She smiled. “No, I guess not.”

“Let them have this. I promise this is as much their bragging at how successful you’ve become as it is fussing over you. Now, where are your loves?”

Nadine turned, listening and looking around the suite. “They’re around somewhere.”

“Go find them. Love on them. Get some rest because it will no doubt be a long and emotionally tiring night for you, socializing with all this people, Poupée. I have a feeling it’s time I retire the nickname and address you as Nadine now that you’re finally all grown up.” He laughed. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Good bye.” Leaving her phone on a table, Nadine searched the suite until she found the couple stretched out in the bed watching TV. She felt as content and happy as they looked.

“How is Jacque?” Henry asked when he noticed her hovering.

She drew a breath and nodded. “Good.”

He patted the mattress in the middle as Elizabeth rearranged pillows and scooted over a bit. “We have a few hours free. What would you like to do?”

Kicking her shoes off, Nadine crawled up and settled between them. “This is good. What are you watching?”

Elizabeth laughed. “He’s watching History Channel and correcting all their errors.”

Nadine laughed as well, it was one of Henry’s favorite pastimes. “How are they doing today?”

“Not too bad so far.” Henry admitted. “How are you doing?”

Elizabeth’s arm snaked around her, tugging them together as she looked up at Henry to answer. “I’m good, actually. I was surprised Aleksi did so much, but it’s… Jacque said a few things that helped it make sense to me.”

Fingers were in her hair, petting her. “Like what, Baby?”

She hummed as she thought. It was comfortable being in Elizabeth’s arms like this. “Did you see the sketch near the end? I-” She paused. It was rare she’d ever truly acknowledged out loud that the person in the art was herself instead of just dancing around it. “I was resting my head on my arms on a railing?”

“I did see it, yes.”

“That was the day we accepted I couldn’t stay in Paris with them. There just wasn’t enough money for it to work. Jacque… What I didn’t know was they had kind of promised one another that they would work hard to be able to lift me up so I could make it. They… They credit their success, both of them, with that determination to be able to care for me. Jacque said that’s why Aleksi wanted to do a whole collection of just these drawings.”

=

The evening was all about glitz. Dressed in a beautiful gown that Jacque had sent over, Nadine trailed behind Henry and Elizabeth, a flute of champagne in her hand as they were greeted by many of the other attendees. Somewhere in the mix, the three kids were milling about and already she’d run into her coworkers who were now standing around one of the little tables.

Just as she made her way over to join them, Aleksi was handed a microphone so they could greet the guests and speak a bit about their latest installation. Standing alongside Jay and the others, with Henry and Elizabeth making their way closer, she listened.

“This installation has been a decades long labor of love for me. I started it in my youth, before I’d really even begun as an artist.” They gestured around the room. “I once had a beautiful muse, the only girl I have ever loved, but it simply wasn’t meant to be. She did give me these glimpses into her soul, however. And also, she gave them to my husband.” They turned, waving Jacque to their side. Nadine was surprised to see him there and grinned. “Normally, when his art is on display it is on a catwalk, but his art is also part of this story, so for the first time ever, we decided to make this a joint endeavor.” Nadine didn’t miss the way the pair both scanned the room until their eyes found her in the crowd. “So, together we thank you for coming tonight to the opening of _Danseuse Petit_.” At the applause, Aleksi gave a slight bow and stepped away, passing the microphone to a staffer.

Jacque and Aleksi were still hand in hand when they found her at the table, each pulled her close to kiss her cheek. “Look at you.” Jacque’s hands roamed the dress he’d made for her. “This turned out perfectly.”

“It did, and thank you.” Nadine lit up. “Here, let me introduce the two of you. These are my colleagues,” she gestured to each in turn, “Jay Whitman, Matt Mahoney, Daisy Grant, and Jacque I do believe you remember speaking to Blake Moran on the phone.”

Jacque laughed as he shook their hands. “I do. I also remember you telling me how big of an admirer he is of my work.”

“Yes, well…” She rested a hand on Aleksi’s arm. “The person of the evening, Aleksi Borisov and their husband Jacque Duval.” Pleasure overtook her nerves about having the two parts of her world collide.

As conversation began to flow, Jacque leaned in close so he could whisper directly into her ear. “Do they know about you and your loves?” When he pulled away, she smiled up at him and nodded. “Good.” Jacque curled one arm around her, keeping her close, as he struck up a conversation with Daisy and Blake about clothing.

Looking over her shoulder, Nadine spied the McCords at the next table engrossed in their own conversation and a tiny part of her longed to go join them. When Elizabeth noticed her attention, she winked and Nadine felt a blush creep across her skin.

“So you can give us all the dirt then on what Nadine was like before she became all serious and by the book?”

Matt’s question, and subsequent laugh, yanked her attention back to their table. She shot him a mild glare before giving Jacque and Aleksi a frown. “Don’t you dare.”

Aleksi laughed. “Just one? Please?”

She was about to tell him no, but Jacque leaned into her ear again to whisper. “How about the one with the wine bottle?”

Instantly, she was red, prompting Daisy to nearly squeal with excitement. “What? Come on, give us something!”

“You can tell them that one. Just… Please remember I have to work with them after this?” She grinned as they all laughed.

“Which one?” Ksi prodded their husband.

“The wine bottle.” He sipped on his champagne before placing the flute aside.

“Ah! The best story! You must remember that when we met Nadine, she was a scrap of a thing. As if a strong wind would blow her away. She was very serious about her work, very serious, and nothing was allowed to distract her from that.”

“Except,” Jacq raised a finger, “Wine and, shall we say…other things.” When she swatted him, he dodged her hand.

“There was a break in the show, I can’t remember if the show wasn’t running or-”

“I had a week of vacation.” Nadine supplied, deciding that if the story would be told, it would be factual.

“Yes. Our little sprite had two moods; happy, which was almost all of the time, and angry, which was very rare but very fierce.”

“I liked angry,” Jacq jumped in again, “angry was sexy.”

“Oh my god.” Nadine muttered with a roll of her eyes.

Ksi talked over them both. “She was home in our little flat and she wasn’t just happy, she was over-the-sun elated. We had been able to afford some wine and there was a bottle in the kitchen. Next think Jacq and I know, we look up from our work and she’s halfway through the bottle, gripping it by the neck as she danced. Windows were wide open, sun streaming in.”

“That doesn’t sound too crazy.” Jay pointed out.

“Wait for it.” Nadine spoke into her glass, holding it at the ready to hide behind in embarrassment.

Aleksi leaned in close so their voice wouldn’t carry across to other tables. “Our Nadine used to be quite the exhibitionist.” They smirked. “Full pirouettes, bottle of wine in her hand, naked as a new baby. That wasn’t even the bad part.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Jacq was laughing. “Obviously, Ksi and I weren’t bothered, but our windows opened onto this narrow street and we could see into the flats on the other side which meant, of course, they could see into ours.”

At the surprised laughter over her youthful antics, she finished her champagne and laughed as well. “I was young once. Isn’t doing embarrassing things part of the process?”

“Yes it is.” Daisy agreed.

“I’m going to go check on Elizabeth and Henry.” Nadine finally pulled away. Over her shoulder, she heard Jacque quietly begin to grill them about just how happy she really was now. It took all she had not to reach out for Elizabeth as she stepped right up to her side.

“How is it going over there?” Blue eyes met hers.

“Good. They are sharing embarrassing storing about me that I will no doubt hate them for… but I am happy everyone could come.” She glanced back for a moment. “Jacque did ask if they knew about us, so who knows what tales he’ll tell.”

“They’re happy to meet other people who love you.” She laughed.

“They’re happy to share all my most embarrassing moments with anyone I won’t kill them for.” Nadine sighed, taking in the whole room. “Aleksi has done well tonight. They should be very proud of themselves… I’m proud of them.” She faced Elizabeth over her shoulder. “How late will we be staying?”

“Till you’re ready to call it a night. Did you see Aleksi added an easel in the corner with a charcoal drawing?”

“What?” Her head whipped around. “No, I didn’t really look around tonight since we were here earlier today.”

Elizabeth nudged her in the right direction. “Go have a look.”

Weaving her way through the crowd, it took Nadine several minutes to get close enough. The drawing was new and she had no idea how they even got the image. She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a bed, their bed in Georgetown based on the volume of pillows, hunched over a laptop with paper scattered about. Without the benefit of color, it looked like just anyone working, but this was… She was speechless.

“This one gave it away for me.” Blake’s voice startled her. When she turned, there was a soft look in his eyes. “The others, even with knowing you, are vague enough that I wasn’t entirely sure. Not before I knew you’d known them like that. This one though, I’ve seen you sit like that on trips so many times that it was obvious.” He turned slightly, his eyes taking in the room. “It’s like a giant love letter to you.”

“In a way.” She admitted.

“I’m surprised you came then. And that you invited us. Well… I guess the Secretary invited us.”

“We only learned what the exhibit would be this afternoon.”

“Ah.”

“I have no idea where Aleksi got this image though.” She looked up again and caught the moment of guilt on his face. “What?”

“I know nothing.” He replied quickly.

“Liar.”

“I may or may not have been in the room when the Secretary confirmed receipt of a photo or two from herself to someone else.”

“You place and take all her calls.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Blake…”

“Take it up with her.” He smirked. “I won’t mention what I know to the others, but it is impressive. I already told them as well, but congratulations.”

“Thank you.” As he wandered away, she drew a deep breath and then let it out slowly. Butterflies seemed to be dancing in her chest and arms as nerves ran through her. Someone knew the truth about the collection and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Granted, it was Blake who’d worked it out, possibly the most observant guy in the room, but still…

Headed back to Elizabeth, she ran into Jacque first, who slipped his arm around her. “There you are!”

“I was about to suggest we head back to the hotel and then I was going to bid you good night.”

“Well, I am done regaling your friends with stories you will never live down, so I will see you back to them and then send you off.” He started walking them both through the crowd. “One last memory for the road?”

She looked up at him, trusting he wouldn’t let her trip.

“We visited you in the states, Roman was perhaps eight months old?”

“Yes.”

“You worried you would never have a good job or friends or be in love with someone who accepted you as you were. Do you remember? And now look at you. Look at this job you have, changing the world, yes? And with those wonderful, silly, happy people around that table there.” His words made her laugh. “And then look at this relationship. Everything you ever worried about, you not only made it, but made it times a hundred.”

Nadine ducked her head to hide the tears forming in her eyes.

“Now. Go to them and let them take you back to the hotel for a little, ah, nightcap, if you will.” Jacque was grinning now “I will hear from you tomorrow.”

“I’ll call.”

“Good.” He leaned down, kissing her cheek. “Sweet dreams.”


End file.
